Price fixing on sugar at Tesco and Asda?

Bellroyd

I surely cannot be the only one who has noticed that both Tesco and Asda, each of whom makes a big song and dance about being cheaper than the other seem to have fixed their sugar price at 93p from memory, yet there is an increasing number of other outlets to include some of the smaller chains (not always previously associated with stocking such an item) where the price of sugar for the same branded products is invariably as low as 69p for the standard 1kg bag. Surely this is extremely disingenuous behaviour from the big boys who are luring shoppers to their tills with their rather shady marketing ploys and then ripping them off on items which almost every shopper buys every week.

I for one never buy sugar from either store - they should be exposed for such shameful price-fixing.

While I'm at it, it's the same story with milk. Up to £1.60 in the majors - a pound or less in many much smaller outlets - It all tastes the same on MY corn flakes. Downright rip-off if you ask me!

RHYSDAD

Bellroyd wrote: »

I surely cannot be the only one who has noticed that both Tesco and Asda, each of whom makes a big song and dance about being cheaper than the other seem to have fixed their sugar price at 93p from memory, yet there is an increasing number of other outlets to include some of the smaller chains (not always previously associated with stocking such an item) where the price of sugar for the same branded products is invariably as low as 69p for the standard 1kg bag. Surely this is extremely disingenuous behaviour from the big boys who are luring shoppers to their tills with their rather shady marketing ploys and then ripping them off on items which almost every shopper buys every week.

I for one never buy sugar from either store - they should be exposed for such shameful price-fixing.

While I'm at it, it's the same story with milk. Up to £1.60 in the majors - a pound or less in many much smaller outlets - It all tastes the same on MY corn flakes. Downright rip-off if you ask me!

Don't kid yourself that the others don't do it...They are all guilty of shady marketing etc.

As for milk, it should be MORE expensive with the extra cut going directly to the farmers who produce it. On some contracts they are getting 3p less per litre than it costs them to produce. Criminal and the supermarkets should be ashamed of themselves....

andrewmp

RHYSDAD wrote: »

Don't kid yourself that the others don't do it...They are all guilty of shady marketing etc.

As for milk, it should be MORE expensive with the extra cut going directly to the farmers who produce it. On some contracts they are getting 3p less per litre than it costs them to produce. Criminal and the supermarkets should be ashamed of themselves....

Silly contract to agree to then really! Unless of course they're getting handouts from the tax payer...

RHYSDAD

andrewmp wrote: »

Silly contract to agree to then really! Unless of course they're getting handouts from the tax payer...

The trouble is of course that with no other buyer for your milk, you have to take what's on offer. No farmer would agree to that sort of contract if he could get a better one, would he??:think:

mouseymousey99

I went past the £1 shop yesterday. Pallet loads of bags of sugar going in and people with arm fulls of bags. (I don't buy white sugar so sorry no idea what it normally costs).

MrsBartolozzi

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

I went past the £1 shop yesterday. Pallet loads of bags of sugar going in and people with arm fulls of bags. (I don't buy white sugar so sorry no idea what it normally costs).

Poundland have 1.5 kg bags of sugar for £1.This works out at 67p per Kg, much cheaper than the supermarkets.

andrewmp

RHYSDAD wrote: »

The trouble is of course that with no other buyer for your milk, you have to take what's on offer. No farmer would agree to that sort of contract if he could get a better one, would he??:think:

Simple supply and demand!! They get the market rate yet complain none stop about it.

costapkt

As well as the sugar rip off the same applys to Oxo cubes (large box ) they are around the £1.60 mark in the big four, but go in Home Bargains 99p. You can also get sugar in there at 69p

mambury

andrewmp wrote: »

Simple supply and demand!! They get the market rate yet complain none stop about it.

I live in a farming community and know quite a few dairy farmers. They get the market rate set by the buyers ie the supermarkets, which is obviously in favour of the retailers profit margin, not the farmers. If the farmer can't sell his milk he will go out of business so it is better to sell at a loss than not sell at all.

Yes farmers do get subsidies but not always as much as you think.

I for one buy milk from certain retailers locally to ensure that I buy local milk, and at a fair price.

BEfore you bemoan the way a farmer does business please look into it further and you will find, like with most uk food producers, that the large supermarkets are gradually killing our agricultural industry in the UK.
With our need to be more self sufficient becoming more urgent over the coming decades we should be looking to buy from our farmers and not try to put them out of business.

Mambury

andrewmp

mambury wrote: »

I live in a farming community and know quite a few dairy farmers. They get the market rate set by the buyers ie the supermarkets, which is obviously in favour of the retailers profit margin, not the farmers. If the farmer can't sell his milk he will go out of business so it is better to sell at a loss than not sell at all.

Yes farmers do get subsidies but not always as much as you think.

I for one buy milk from certain retailers locally to ensure that I buy local milk, and at a fair price.

BEfore you bemoan the way a farmer does business please look into it further and you will find, like with most uk food producers, that the large supermarkets are gradually killing our agricultural industry in the UK.
With our need to be more self sufficient becoming more urgent over the coming decades we should be looking to buy from our farmers and not try to put them out of business.

Mambury

Supermarkets need to buy milk. If the farmers insisted on a "fair" price then the supermarkets would have to pay it wouldn't they?

Enterprise_1701C

They would just buy from overseas or other farmers who were desperate. No-one else can buy the milk due to the stranglehold the supermarkets have on the market.